Cardiff City fans fretted their beloved Bluebirds would become the Cardiff Dragons this week after Malaysian backer Vincent Tan gave a rare TV interview appearing not to rule out a name change.

Cardiff City fans fretted their beloved Bluebirds would become the Cardiff Dragons this week after Malaysian backer Vincent Tan gave a rare TV interview appearing not to rule out a name change. They needn’t have worried, with Tan eventually clarifying he had no intention of changing thing. All the same, the abortive name change aroused memories of 10 other ambitious rebrands which have gone down with mixed success ...

1. Milton Keynes Dons

In September 2003 Wimbledon Football Club relocated 56 miles from their South London home, where they had been based since 1889, to the Buckinghamshire new town Milton Keynes. Numerous owners since 1979 had toyed with the idea but when it did eventually happen – with the club taking on the new name of MK Dons – a supporters’ faction were so enraged they founded breakout club AFC Wimbledon. The new team began life in the Combined Counties Premier League and now plays in League Two.

2. Consignia

Previously a government department and a byword for trust and honour, the Post Office decided it needed a grandiose new brand image as it approached the Millennium. And so, in early 2001, it was announced it would take on the new identity of Consignia. But confusion, ridicule and a public outcry followed and, just 16 months later, plans to push into overseas markets were in tatters. Consignia was, ahem, consigned to the history books, leaving Royal Mail bosses hoping the £2m rebranding would soon be as much forgotten as it was derided.

3. Coco Pops

The immortal phrase “I’d rather have a bowl of Coco Pops” became distinctly less snappy when Kellogg’s bigwigs decided to turn the chocolate cereal into Choco Krispies. Many pointed out the new theme did not trip off the cartoon monkey’s tongue as it once had done. And in the face of continuing consumer opposition, Kellogg’s put the brand’s identity to a TV and internet poll in which a million people voted to change Choco Krispies back to Coco Pops.

4. Cleveland Browns

In the world of American sport and the NFL, the idea of a franchise is much more well-established than in the UK. But even so, when Browns owner Art Modell decided to move the team from its longtime home of Cleveland, Ohio, to Baltimore, Maryland, for the 1996 season all hell broke loose. Fans revolted and made a series of legal threats with the league eventually awarding a new franchise to Cleveland in 1999, which for historical purposes is considered a continuation of the original Browns franchise.

5. Snickers

Long before Mr T began asking customers to “grow some nuts”, the nougat, caramel and peanut confectionery made by Mars was sold as Marathon. That was until 1990 when Mars decided to align the UK product with the global Snickers name which has worldwide sales of more than $2bn. In 2008, one report suggested Marathon would make a nostalgic comeback 18 years after it vanished from shelves – but Snickers remains the brand’s name.

6. The New Saints (TNS)

From 1997 to 2006, the club representing Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain in Powys was known as Total Network Solutions due to a £250,000 sponsorship deal with a computer company. But in early 2006 after Total Network Solutions was taken over by BT, the sponsorship lapsed. After an attempt to sell the naming rights on eBay, the name “The New Saints” was agreed upon owing to the fact Llansantffraid was always known as “The Saints”, while also keeping the acronym TNS. The new name finally put paid to football host Jeff Stelling’s tongue-in-cheek catchphrase: “They’ll be dancing in the streets of Total Network Solutions tonight.”

7. Starburst

The cuboid-shaped sweets were originally Opal Fruits after being introduced to shop shelves in 1959. They were so named by Peter Pfeffer in a competition that won him £5 and the four original flavours were strawberry, lemon, orange, and lime. But in the 1990s Opal Fruits were phased out in the UK, followed by Ireland in 1998, in order to standardise the Starburst product in the global marketplace – although Asda briefly revived Opal Fruits for a 12-week period in May 2008.

8. Cif

A subtle but vital name change was made to the lemon infused household cleaning product, back in 2000. Initially known as Jif, a £2m rebrand for the sake of one letter was deemed necessary because those in European territories were getting into difficulty pronouncing the name of the product. Apparently the “s” was easier to pronounce in other languages although it is still sold under the names Jif, Vim, Viss and Handy Andy depending on which of the 51 countries it is sold in. Meanwhile, multinational branding requirements have also seen Oil of Ulay switch to Oil of Olay, and Dime Bar becoming Daim Bar.

9. Santander UK

The UK arm of the Spanish banking giant was formed from three constituent companies with roots dating back to 1849 as mutual building societies. They were well-known on the high street as Abbey National, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley before the beginning of their formation in January 2010 led to them being renamed Santander UK plc. Alliance & Leicester plc merged into the renamed business in May 2010.

10. Prince

Born as Prince Rogers Nelson, the American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor kept the name until a dispute with label Warner Bros over the artistic and financial control of his output in 1993 in which he likened himself to a slave. Initially he changed his stage name to a newly-created squiggle known as the Love Symbol which was explained as a combination of the gender symbols. But because the symbol had no stated pronunciation, he was often referred to as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” as well as “The Artist”. Sean Combs followed a similar path when he changed his stage name from “Puff Daddy” to “P Diddy” in 2001.

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